RANGERS had little to gain but everything to lose as they took on Forfar at Station Park.

But the Scottish Cup fifth round clash might just prove the launchpad for the remainder of Kenny Miller's season after the striker ended his nine-match goal drought. ONE BY ONE By Alison McConnell

McGREGOR Comfortable Could have been booked for a petulant first-half kick. Other than that, didn't have too much to do at all.

WHITTAKER Good Tried his luck in the early stages with a decent attempt that whizzed just wide of the post. Defended well and got forward in support at every opportunity.

WEIR Composed The old head in defence was rarely troubled.

BOUGHERRA Quiet Little defensive work of any real note to deal with.

PAPAC Eager Opened the scoring early on and got forward in support whenever he could.

NAISMITH Industrious Worked hard throughout and it's another 90 minutes under his belt as he edges towards full fitness. Was annoyed at himself for failing to make more of a chance that came his way in the final minutes of the game.

McCULLOCH Busy Had to go off with a knock late in the second half but, other than that, worked hard in the middle as Rangers dictated the tempo of the game.

BEASLEY Lucky Hobbled off after being brought to the deck following an over-the-ball tackle that could have left him with a broken leg.

EDU Decent The young American put in a good shift in the middle of the park and will have been happy to be involved after struggling to find his feet this season.

MILLER Impressive A key part in the opener before netting two of his own. After being left out of the game at Celtic Park on Sunday, it was a welcome confidence boost for the forward who worked hard and troubled Forfar with his pace.

BOYD Pass marks A nice step-over to set up Miller's first goal and also had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled offside. Looked irked at being subbed before he had added to his season's tally.

LAFFERTY Fine On in the late stages and full of running. Set up Miller's second with intelligent header across goal.

AARON Good Got the third goal which he clearly relished as his celebrations showed. Cracking finish.

DAVIS Quiet On for the last ten minutes after Lee McCulloch picked up a knock.

SMITH The manager would have been well satisfied with a good night's work.

For most of the Ibrox players, there wasn't a great deal to take from the 4-0 victory other than the fact they have taken another step closer to landing silverware by securing a home quarter-final clash with Hamilton Accies.

Miller - who admitted his pride had been dented when he was benched for the Old Firm clash last weekend - benefited most from the tie against the Third Division minnows as he returned to the goal trail for the first time since December 6, when he scored in the 7-1 win over Hamilton Accies.

Throughout his career, the striker goes through extended runs in which he fails to score. It was the case during his first spell at Ibrox, and in England with Wolves and also during his time at Celtic.

But Miller also seems to enjoy purple patches where he gets his name on the scoresheet regularly, and he will now be hoping he is going to enjoy one of those after netting a double at Forfar.

When Loons keeper Ally Brown somehow managed to save his overhead kick during the first half, Miller must have wondered just what he had to do in order to get back amongst the goals.

Never one to allow missed chances to affect his confidence, though, he finally found his scoring boots during the second half when he smashed home a volley to double his side's advantage after Sasa Papac hit the first-half opener.

He rounded off a rewarding night by heading home a second from close range in the last minute.

Miller said: "Of course it hurt my pride when I was left out at Parkhead. I want to play in every game, particularly big games and games against Celtic, so I was really disappointed to be left out.

"I felt that when I came on against Celtic I was getting back to where I was before. With those goals against Forfar, I hope that will be the case.

"I've been left out the team for the last three or four games. The three or four games before that, I hadn't been performing to the same level as I had been.

"Sometimes it's good to have a rest; you come back hungrier. Getting the goals will give me confidence.

"I won't use my hamstring injury as an excuse. It's getting better. I can't put my finger on why I've gone through a wee bad spell but I'm glad to be back in the team and back on the scoresheet."

Although it eventually proved a successful enough evening for Miller, it looked as though it was going to be one of those nights as his team-mates appeared to go through the motions during the first half.

Rangers couldn't have asked to get off to a better start when they took the lead through the most unlikely of figures in Papac.

The full-back is often accused of not getting involved in the game enough and being too reluctant to venture forward. As Kirk Broadfoot attacks constantly on the right, the Bosnian could certainly do more at times on the opposite side.

In fairness, however, he wasn't afraid to push forward in the opening exchanges against Forfar and he was rewarded with what was only the third goal of his Rangers career.

Miller played the ball into his path and Papac made no mistake with the finish. That, though, was as good as it got for the visitors in the opening period as their passing was too slow and it was all too predictable as well.

Maybe the amount of changes to the starting line-up played a part with the likes of DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu, Steven Naismith and Steven Whittaker all being given the chance to get a game under their belts.

Kris Boyd had returned to the starting line-up after spending Sunday's Old Firm game on the bench and Miller returned to the starting line-up. But it's more than likely a half-time rocket by the man in charge, Ally McCoist, did the trick.

Miller, at long last, converted one of the most difficult chances he would have had in recent matches with an excellent volley and Rangers' case was aided further when Forfar's Elliot Smith was sent-off for a poor challenge on Beasley.

Aaron climbed off the bench to add a third before Miller rounded off a much improved second-half display with a last-minute header.

He is now looking forward to facing Hamilton Accies and said: "We obviously want to go all the way in the competition. We are the Scottish Cup holders and we'd like to win it again this season.

"It will be difficult in the next round against Hamilton Accies. They have picked up recently and have earned some good results so we'll need to perform well to progress.

"But the main thing last night was just to win the game and the fact we managed to score four goals and keep a clean sheet in the process is a bonus."

Forfar: Brown, McNally, Tod, Tulloch, Elliot Smith, Gordon (Donachie 87), Winter (Fotheringham 74), Brady (McGuigan 74), Graham Gibson, Lilley, Campbell. Subs not used: John Gibson, Sean Kilgannon. Sent Off: Elliot Smith (70). Booked: Tulloch, Brady, McGuigan.

Rangers: McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, Bougherra, Edu, Beasley (Aaron 72), McCulloch (Davis 80), Naismith, Miller, Boyd (Lafferty 65). Subs not used: Alexander, Dailly. Booked: Papac, Niguez. Goals: Papac 8, Miller 54, Aaron 84, Miller 90.

Ref: Eddie Smith.

Att: 4718. NEED TO KNOW

Was it a good game? Not the most exciting tie the Scottish Cup has ever produced - despite four goals and a sending-off. Rangers took the sting out of the game with an early goal and that killed off any hopes Forfar had of causing an upset. Pace of the game was slow at times and resembled a training match for long spells.

Who scored the goals? Sasa Papac opened the scoring with a neat finish, but the visiting fans were forced to wait until the second half before their side extended their lead. It was Kenny Miller who finally found his scoring boots with a fantastic finish from just inside the box and young Spaniard Aaron then kept his cool to net his first goal in Rangers colours. Miller rounded things off with a close-range finish to make sure of a quarter-final clash with Hamilton at Ibrox.

Rangers' best player? Kenny Miller ended his goal drought by netting a double and he was also unlucky not to have scored with an overhead kick in the first half.

Who is up next? It's Jim Jefferies' Kilmarnock at Ibrox on Saturday as Rangers return to SPL action.